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Every family of three or more that came to a Vancouver food bank before Christmas went home with a turkey. Every singleton and couple got a chicken.

And because the food bank is closed during the week between Christmas and New Year, every client that showed up last week got double the usual supplies of everything from fruit and vegetables to canned fish and baby food, pasta and soup.

“Everyone wants to have a little celebration, maybe a little present, but that can be a challenge,” said Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society CEO Aart Schuurman Hess. “Everybody got double for Christmas and to last through the next week.”

Stocking fridges for Christmas has left the society’s warehouse with a few gaps and empty shelves, especially when it comes to quality proteins such as tuna and salmon. After the expense of December — the biggest volume month of the year for the food bank — cash will be needed to ensure perishables are ready when people come back in the first week of January, said Schuurman Hess.

Two diverging trend lines will make restocking a challenge. Food donations are down 10 per cent over the past two years, while the number of clients is up ten per cent.

The food bank does a lot with a little, serving 27,000 people each week with a paid staff of only 27, said Schuurman Hess. Hundreds of volunteers work tens of thousands of hours to ensure people who need food, get fed.

Cash donations are needed to fill the widening gap between food donations and increasing need, he said.

Because the organization is so blessed with volunteers, the GVFBS has a low three to five per cent administrative overhead: 92 per cent of cash donations go directly to purchasing food.

“We need to restock for the next six to seven months, there are some empty spaces in the warehouse,” said Schuurman Hess. Food and cash donations will help us to ensure that we can help people in the months to come.”

While donations during November and December are typically higher than normal, the opposite is true in January.

To donate to the GVFBS go to www.foodbank.bc.ca or leave non-perishable items in the bin at your local supermarket.

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Vancouver food bank looking ahead to lean times (with video)

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